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Mandy Burbank

New Focus

Class of ’09Business Skills
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

The decision to come here was amazing. I had no idea what it was going to like. All I knew is this was something that I needed to do. I was excited to return back to school because I finally made the decision of what I wanted to study. What’s interesting is that, even though I hadn’t had any previous background in business at all, I have more passion now for business than I ever had when I was taking speech pathology courses and programs. I never expected that.

The thing I like about this school is the spirit that’s here. I had good experiences at other colleges. But they don’t compare to my experiences at LDS Business College. The classes here are small so you really get to know your classmates. You aren’t thrown into a large auditorium with 500 students where you’re just a number. My teachers here—I could go to any one of them and most all of them will remember my name.

I learned principles of management and marketing skills I never really knew before, and about human resource management and entrepreneurship. I regained my passion for continuing on with my online business. I had problems with a supplier, and it was very frustrating. I was getting very disheartened. But through the entrepreneurship class I regained the drive and passion to do it. I also loved my project management class, and business accounting, and marketing. I have a strong interest in marketing. And business finance. The whole purpose of the business skills program is to help you get an idea of what you really like, so if you transfer to a four-year university, you have a better idea of what aspect of business you’re interested in. Business is a huge field and you can do so much in it. But in this program you can narrow down where your interests truly lie.

I have previous degrees, but what I found is that while I can tell you where the femur bone is and where certain muscles in the body are, that doesn’t help me get a job. But now I finally have the skills that employers are looking for. I definitely have gotten them at the College.

It’s easier to focus because of this environment where pretty much everyone has the same standards. You don’t have the worries and concerns and distractions you have at other schools that would affect your learning. You don’t have to deal with it. You can say, “I can focus on this.”

I thought I had a strong testimony before I came here. I never really wavered, never really questioned it. So I knew, I thought. I thought, my testimony is sturdy; it’s strong as a rock. But being here, it’s increased because of the environment with the teachers here, being temple recommend holders and temple worthy, teaching by the Spirit.

I live just a couple of blocks from Temple Square. Being literally five minutes from the temple is a great advantage to living in Salt Lake. I wanted to take advantage of living close to all the things going on—Church concerts and devotionals and firesides. Those are profound experiences that really strengthened my testimony.

It’s been such an incredible experience for me. I keep telling everybody I know, “It’s so great! It’s so great! You need to go there!” because you won’t get the environment that’s here at any other school. You really won’t. Here, with a small foundation, you can grow. You’ll make connections with people that you’ll have for the rest of your life.